This year marks a huge milestone for Dave and Chuck the Freak, morning hosts on Beasley Rock WRIF/Detroit. Dave Hunter and Chuck “The Freak” are celebrating twenty-five years hosting mornings together in the greater Detroit area. Like so many couples who make it to milestone anniversaries, they say the secret to staying together is pretty simple: honesty. But in their case, it’s as much about being honest with the audience as with each other.
“I think the reason we have been successful for that long is because it’s genuine,” Dave says. “There’s no staged calls, no prank skits, and no actors going through a fake breakup. Every caller to the show is real. Nothing’s ever been staged.”
Chuck adds that another element of their success is the connection between them. “Chemistry is really important, and Dave and I started at the same place around the same time. We were both young, and we started to build a relationship even before we had a show together.”
Built on Mutual Reliance
Dave agrees that the two rely on each other. “We both know we couldn’t do it without each other. I know what Chuck brings to the show. Chuck knows what I bring. And we know it wouldn’t work without both of us.”
The pair also exemplify another classic trope about what makes for great relationships: opposites attract. “Chuck and I are so different,” Dave explains. “We get along great, but our take on things is incredibly opposite. We lead opposite lives, and that’s why it works. If we were two guys thinking the same things, it would be boring.”
Instead, Dave and Chuck’s differences give the show a unique point of view you won’t find on other morning programs. “Every show is talking about the same stuff, but early on we realized we had a Dave and Chuck the Freak way of looking at a story,” Chuck explains. “Where most people would see a story about a nice old man, we would find a wild take about the scenario. In fact, the best times are when it’s like ‘Wow, this really went somewhere you wouldn’t have expected.'”
Taking Over a Detroit Legacy
That connection and chemistry started to form while they were at another Detroit-area radio station, before they moved to WRIF to replace the legendary Drew and Mike show. For Chuck, the move was bittersweet. “Growing up in Windsor, just across the border, Drew and Mike was who I listened to before I had a show of my own. It was rough taking over for people you love.”
To make the move, the team had to sit out a non-compete, which Dave remembers as a stressful time. “I couldn’t help but wonder — are people still going to be there for us six months later, or are they going to find a different show? It was nerve-wracking to the point where, during the sit-out period, my wife wanted to buy a toaster and I was like, ‘Hell no, we can’t just buy a toaster right now.'”
While Dave and Chuck form the core of the show, they aren’t doing it all alone. Co-host Lisa Way joined the show early on and fills an important role. “We realized quickly that we need a female perspective. Even though it’s still a male-skewed show, we go off the rails when there’s no woman,” Dave says. “We have a really solid core of female listeners, and I think part of the reason is they feel represented.”
Inclusive Humor, Real Chemistry
It also helps that, despite being on a male-leaning station, the show isn’t anti-woman like some other shows in the rock world seem to be. “The women listening know we’re not sexist a-holes. They can hear that we actually like women and want women as a part of our lives,” Dave says. “Can we joke around about women? Absolutely. But we also make fun of the fact that I’m Irish, that Chuck is shorter, and that Jason is Jewish. Everything’s open for fun in a lighthearted way — never in an evil or sexist way.”
In addition to Lisa, the current lineup also includes Al Beck, Jason Watson, and Ryan Logan, who bring different skills and points of view to the show. Most importantly, they all help find the humor in the topics Dave brings to the air. “Funny is always number one with us,” Chuck says. “And I don’t care if I’m the funny one, or if it’s Dave or Lisa or whoever — funny wins. Whoever says the funniest thing, that’s the best thing that could have been said at the time.”
That also includes the audience, who Dave says are a constant source of material. “The listeners’ lives have provided us with so much insane content that we could never have dreamt up ourselves. Those definitely have been some of our favorite moments — the crazy callers who share their lives that you can’t believe are real. It takes us on a trip we never expected.”
The Art of Improv
And while funny is the goal, the method for getting there is pure improvisation. Dave collects material for the show but doesn’t share any of it ahead of time. “When we started, we would sit down and talk through everything, and we realized this doesn’t work for us. It was hilarious when we talked about it, but when we got to air, because we’d discussed it already, it wasn’t funny anymore.”
They realize that process isn’t for every show, but it works for them. Chuck thinks that’s due to the way Dave leads the show. “He has an incredible knack for knowing when something isn’t working and moving on. But he also knows when to let something marinate because things are building. It’s a skill that not everybody has.”
Dave attributes a lot of how he guides the show to thinking like a listener. “I always try to put myself in the listener’s spot and ask if I’m getting bored. Because if I’m getting bored, they are too.”
He goes on to say that he thinks of the show as similar to a Pirates of the Caribbean movie. “I look at myself as the captain of the ship, and Chuck’s my Jack Sparrow. You never know what he’s going to get up to. So I have to guide the ship. Sometimes it’s rough waters, and sometimes it’s smooth sailing.”
A Language All Their Own
Over the last twenty-five years, the show has also developed its own lingo that is well known to core listeners. The most famous example is probably the phrase most callers greet the show with: “penis.”
It started when the guys got suspended for something they say they may or may not have done. While they were off the air, a listener left a voicemail saying he was happy they were off because, “all they ever talk about is penis. Penis this, penis that. Penis, penis, penis.”
Not surprisingly, they played the voicemail on the air their first day back. The next caller greeted them with “penis.” Several more callers followed suit, and a catchphrase was born.
“Instead of ‘hello’ or ‘love you, love the show,’ penis became our official greeting, and unfortunately, all these years later we’re still stuck with it,” Dave says. “You can’t get rid of it. People in a mall three levels up scream it. They don’t say Dave. They don’t say Chuck. They just scream penis at us.”
Over the years, other terms have also taken root, including ripcord, support command, and “It’s Friday, bitches.” To Chuck, the phrases are a way for the audience to demonstrate their longevity as fans. “There’s a nostalgia to being part of the group that was there from the start — when penis happened, or when ripcord happened. I think if someone calls in and says ‘ripcord,’ they are letting us know, ‘Hey, man, I’ve been here for a really long time.'”
Learning the Language
While most of this secret language is explained in a show glossary online, they rarely explain the terms on the air for new listeners. To Chuck, it’s similar to when he first heard Jim Rome on the radio. “(Rome) would tell listeners that his show would sound really weird for a couple of weeks and that they wouldn’t understand what people were saying. But give it a couple of weeks and you’ll figure it out. I think that’s what we do. Give us a couple of weeks and you’ll get it.”
But regardless of any confusing lingo, new listeners will surely be quick to understand the central theme of the show — which has been the key to twenty-five years of success. “The core of the show is the same today as it always was. Different players, guests, and bits have come and gone. But the core chemistry, the core friendship, the core reality of what you’re listening to is genuine,” Dave says. “That’s always been there. And I think that’s why we’ve been successful.”
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Mike Stern is a Classic Rock columnist and Features writer for Barrett Media. He has been with Jacobs Media consulting stations in the Classic Rock, Rock, Alternative and AAA world for more than a decade. Prior to that he programmed stations in Chicago, Detroit, Denver Las Vegas and other markets. He also worked as News/Talk Editor for Radio and Records, wrote about Top 40 Radio for Billboard Magazine and had his own radio talent coaching business called Talent Mechanic.
